A decision on a preliminary plan for a 215 single-family home subdivision in the City of Sequim is expected this week.
Hearing examiner Andrew Reeves with Sound Law Center heard testimony on the Rolling Hills development on July 28 via video feed in the Sequim Civic Center from developer JWJ Group and its consultants, city staff and citizens.
Rolling Hills would be built in three phases on 44.1 acres at the southeast corner of South Seventh Avenue and McCurdy Road by the Seabreeze Apartments, Dominion Terrace, Avamere and Maple Ridge Estates. Phase 1 would include 62 lots, phase 2 with 76 lots, and 77 lots in phase 3. Each phase would offer 248, 304 and 308 parking spaces.
Reeves told participants he planned to issue a decision by Aug. 25 but might need an extra day because ofo the scope of the project.
“It’s always better to produce a well thought out decision than something rushed,” he said.
Reeves said this is his second hearing for the City of Sequim and largest in the eight years he’s considered applications in Clallam County.
Sequim city councilors moved most development decisions and appeals last March to a hearing examiner ruling over concerns about conflicts of interest for developments and to free themselves to discuss issues with the public.
JWJ’s application documents state the homes are for “middle income” residents with lots ranging from 4,217 to 7,942 square feet.
Prices and sizes of homes were not provided in documentation or the hearing.
Amenities would include gardens, play equipment, walking paths and more.
Levi Holmes, an applicant representative, said during the hearing that their lots are more than the city required minimum area, width and depth.
In a reply after the July 28 hearing, he wrote that JWJ previously proposed “a 5-phase development with mixed use product and a higher density.”
He wrote, “Our current application reduces the density and changes to single family residential only.
“This change was not a result of any environmental concerns, but rather a decision we made as the developers of this project to meet the current market needs of this community.”
If approved, documents state clearing and grading the property would tentatively begin in spring 2023, with construction to start in spring 2024.
Holmes said they plan to complete the homes within five years, before the application would expire.
Conditions
JWJ Group representatives said the phases will be independent of each other and include two points of access for emergency vehicles. They also agreed with the city’s required conditions required. Some of those include: an archaeological survey of the site; dust to be mitigated by wetting the grounds as needed; construction only take place from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; a minimum 10-foot-wide landscaping strip on frontage streets; sidewalks along South Seventh Avenue and McCurdy, and connecting Norman Street through from South Third Avenue to South Seventh Avenue.
Dennis Wardlaw, a transportation archaeologist for the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, said the area has “high sensitivity” in his report and “is adjacent to a previously recorded archaeological site, which may extend into the current proposed project area.”
Traffic study
In a “Traffic Impact Analysis” by Heath & Associates, Inc for the applicant, the site proposes five entrances/exits: the Norman Street extension; a driveway extending south from McCurdy Road; another new driveway onto Seventh; a westerly extension of Big Leaf Loop, and a new access connecting to South Fifth Avenue by the Sea Breeze Apartments.
Of the many community comments before, during and after the hearing, neighbors shared concerns about increased congestion at Seventh/McCurdy and South Third Avenue to access U.S. Highway 101.
Several people also commented on Norman Street going from a dead end and walking area for people to a throughway for Third and Seventh Avenues.
Janet Humphrey, a South Third Avenue resident, said “the addition of this much traffic into this quiet little neighborhood is going to fundamentally change the basis of this neighborhood.”
She said, “I think the city has some responsibility here to protect the lifestyle the people seek here. While we need more housing, we can’t do that at the expense of current residents.”
Reeves spoke about the Level of Service for the South Sequim bypass saying documents show it’s at an E rating now (below the city’s D required rating) and the project would bring it to an F.
“My understanding of concurrency (timely provisions relative to traffic demand) is if there’s a problem, as an applicant you can’t be the one who can’t trigger the failing,” he said.
City staff said the intersection is part of the city’s six-year Transportation Improvement Program to add a traffic signal there to improve flow.
Reeves said that plan doesn’t necessarily relieve the applicant of mitigation and it would require Department of Transportation approval of additions/changes to its infrastructure.
Aaron Van Aken with Heath & Associates said they could meet traffic concurrency with an interim all-way stop at the bypass if the city and WSDOT agreed.
Neighbors in Maple Ridge Estates also shared concerns about access to and from their gated community to Big Leaf Loop.
Holmes said they’ll be permanently improving their access road and shouldn’t see significant delays.
Van Aken added in the applicants’ comments that the city required the Norman Street connection between Third and Seventh Avenues. The developer is also building more than 2,000 square feet of sidewalk along South Seventh Avenue and McCurdy Road.
Water concerns
City staff and JWJ representatives testified multiple times that there aren’t critical areas on the site.
Joanne Bartlett with Ecological Land Services, and other consultants wrote there’s not a stream on the site, but an abandoned irrigation ditch. She added that a ditch on the eastern side of the property has year round flow but does not classify as a wetland.
Holmes said a Fish and Wildlife Department representative testified via email that there was a mapping error about fish being present on the site.
Stormwater on the property is planned to be collected and piped to a pond where it’ll be later infiltrated into the ground. That will be reviewed more thoroughly later, Reeves said.
Notification
Nearby residents also expressed concern why they weren’t notified about the development despite being adjacent to it within the 300-foot contact parameters.
Steve Lachnicht, Sequim’s director of community development director, said that some properties may have only been contacted at one number/address because its development has one single ownership.
However, he said, staff is proposing in a separate action later to update the city code to increase efficiency of contacting neighbors about proposed developments.
For more about the Rolling Hill development, visit sequimwa.gov/471/Current-Projects.
